Abstract
In transitive inference, participants learn a set of context-dependent discriminations that can be organized into a hierarchy that supports inference. Several studies show that inference occurs with or without task awareness. However, some studies assert that without awareness, performance is attributable to pseudoinference. By this account, inference-like performance is achieved by differential stimulus weighting according to the stimuli’s proximity to the end items of the hierarchy. We implement an inference task that cannot be based on differential stimulus weighting. The design itself rules out pseudoinference strategies. Success on the task without evidence of deliberative strategies would therefore suggest that true inference can be achieved implicitly. We found that accurate performance on the inference task was not dependent on explicit awareness. The finding is consistent with a growing body of evidence that indicates that forms of learning and memory supporting inference and flexibility do not necessarily depend on task awareness.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bunsey, M., & Eichenbaum, H. (1996). Conservation of hippocampal memory function in rats and humans. Nature, 379, 255–257.
Clark, R. E., Manns, J. R., & Squire, L. R. (2002). Classical conditioning, awareness, and brain systems. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 524–531.
Davis, H. (1992). Transitive inference in rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 106, 342–349.
Eichenbaum, H., Fagan, A., Mathews, P., & Cohen, N. J. (1988). Hippocampal system dysfunction and odor discrimination learning in rats: Impairment or facilitation depending on representational demands. Behavioral Neuroscience, 102, 331–339.
Ellenbogen, J. M., Hu, P. T., Payne, J. D., Titone, D., & Walker, M. P. (2007). Human relational memory requires time and sleep. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 7723–7728.
Frank, M. J., O’Reilly, R. C., & Curran, T. (2006). When memory fails, intuition reigns: Midazolam enhances implicit inference in humans. Psychological Science, 17, 700–707.
Frank, M. J., Rudy, J. W., Levy, W. B., & O’Reilly, R. C. (2005). When logic fails: Implicit transitive inference in humans. Memory & Cognition, 33, 742–750.
Frank, M. J., Rudy, J. W., & O’Reilly, R. C. (2003). Transitivity, flexibility, conjunctive representations, and the hippocampus: II. A computational analysis. Hippocampus, 13, 341–354.
Gillan, D. J. (1981). Reasoning in the chimpanzee: II. Transitive inference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 7, 150–164.
Greene, A. J. (2007). Human hippocampal-dependent tasks: Is awareness necessary or sufficient? Hippocampus, 17, 429–433.
Greene, A. J., Gross, W. L., Elsinger, C. L., & Rao, S. M. (2006). An fMRI analysis of the human hippocampus: Inference, context, and task awareness. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18, 1156–1173.
Greene, A. J., Spellman, B. A., Dusek, J. A., Eichenbaum, H. B., & Levy, W. B. (2001). Relational learning with and without awareness: Transitive inference using nonverbal stimuli in humans. Memory & Cognition, 29, 893–902.
Gross, W. L., & Greene, A. J. (2007). Analogical inference: The role of awareness in abstract learning. Memory, 15, 838–844.
Harrison, L. M., Duggins, A., & Friston, K. J. (2006). Encoding uncertainty in the hippocampus. Neural Networks, 19, 535–546.
Heckers, S., Zalesak, M., Weiss, A. P., Ditman, T., & Titone, D. (2004). Hippocampal activation during transitive inference in humans. Hippocampus, 14, 153–162.
Howard, M. W., Fotedar, M. S., Datey, A. V., & Hasselmo, M. E. (2005). The temporal context model in spatial navigation and relational learning: Toward a common explanation of medial temporal lobe function across domains. Psychological Review, 112, 75–116.
Moses, S. N., Villate, C., & Ryan, J. D. (2006). An investigation of learning strategy supporting transitive inference performance in humans compared to other species. Neuropsychologia, 44, 1370–1387.
Myers, C. E., Shohamy, D., Gluck, M. A., Grossman, S., Onlaor, S., & Kapur, N. (2003). Dissociating medial temporal and basal ganglia memory systems with a latent learning task. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1919–1928.
Nagode, J. C., & Pardo, J. V. (2002). Human hippocampal activation during transitive inference. NeuroReport, 13, 939–944.
Preston, A. R., Shrager, Y., Dudukovic, N. M., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2004). Hippocampal contribution to the novel use of relational information in declarative memory. Hippocampus, 14, 148–152.
Reber, P. J., Knowlton, B. J., & Squire, L. R. (1996). Dissociable properties of memory systems: Differences in the flexibility of declarative and nondeclarative knowledge. Behavioral Neuroscience, 110, 861–871.
Ryan, J. D., Althoff, R. R., Whitlow, S., & Cohen, N. J. (2000). Amnesia is a deficit in relational memory. Psychological Science, 11, 454–461.
Siemann, M., & Delius, J. D. (1994). Processing of hierarchic stimulus structures has advantages in humans and animals. Biological Cybernetics, 71, 531–536.
Smith, C., & Squire, L. R. (2005). Declarative memory, awareness, and transitive inference. Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 10138–10146.
Stretch, V., & Wixted, J. T. (1998). Decision rules for recognition memory confidence judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 24, 1397–1410.
van Elzakker, M., O’Reilly, R. C., & Rudy, J. W. (2003). Transitivity, flexibility, conjunctive representations, and the hippocampus: I. An empirical analysis. Hippocampus, 13, 334–340.
Weaver, J. E., Steirn, J. N., & Zentall, T. R. (1997). Transitive inference in pigeons: Control for differential value transfer. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4, 113–117.
Zentall, T. R., & Sherburne, L. M. (1994). Transfer of value from S1 to S2 in a simultaneous discrimination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 20, 176–183.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leo, P.D., Greene, A.J. Is awareness necessary for true inference?. Memory & Cognition 36, 1079–1086 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.6.1079
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.6.1079